Jesse Sharps Quintet, Pan-Afrikan Peoples Arkestra

The only album ever released under the name of saxophonist, bandleader and composer Jesse Sharps - a major, largely unsung figure in the history of jazz music in Los Angeles. Recorded in 1985 for Tom Albach's legendary Nimbus West imprint, Sharps And Flats lay unreleased until 2004 on CD and never saw a vinyl pressing until 2018. Sharps studied under Cecil Taylor at college, then returned to L.A. and took over band-leading duties from the great altoist Arthur Blythe in Horace Tapscott's Pan-Afrikan Peoples Arkestra. Tapscott trusted him completely: "He became the Ark leader... he was hardcore. They'd all be quiet and listen to him when he talked." This was the era of the classic P.A.P.A. recordings - Flight 17, Live At I.U.C.C., The Call - and Sharps wrote some of the most celebrated compositions in the entire Arkestra songbook: "Desert Fairy Princess", "Macramé", "Peyote Song III".

The quintet here features P.A.P.A. regulars at the height of their powers, with Steve Smith on trumpet and Carl Burnett on drums delivering a funky, deeply spiritual modal jazz of the highest order. A stunning 16-minute bonus cut by the full Arkestra featuring Tapscott on piano, recorded at the I.U.C.C. in 1979, closes the album and takes things into pure transcendence. One of the great lost Nimbus sessions - a spirit music document of the first rank.